Sheet material package



United States Patent Inventors Aaron A. Minion St. Louis, Missouri; Paul R. Schmidt, White Bear Lake. Minnesota Appl. No. 791,729 Filed Jan. 16, 1969 Patented Oct. 6, 1970 Assignee Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company St. Paul, Minnesota a corporation of Delaware SHEET MATERIAL PACKAGE 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

U.S.Cl 206/52, 242/ 7 1 .8 Int. Cl B65h 75/28: 865d 85/67 [50] Field ofSearch 206/52, '52(Film). 52(5), 46(Film). 59(Film), 58; 242/7l.7,71.8,7l 7l,l

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1.l68,703 1/1916 Bauer .t 206/52 1.322,18U 11/1919 Crowell. 206/52 1.479360 1/1924 Flynn 242/71.1

Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson, Jr. I AImrne \-Kinney Alexander. Sell. Steldt and Delahunt ABSTRACT: A package in which one end of a roll of sheet material extends through a narrow slit formed in a container, is folded across the slit, and is retained by a strip of material which is secured to the container and the folded portion of the sheet material.

Pdtented Oct. 6, 1970 [Ni/EN TOPS AARON A. MIN/ON PA UL R, SCHMIDT BY/ 7, M MJMgJzAM AT TORNEKS SHEET MATERIAL PACKAGE This invention relates to an improved package and in one aspect to an improved light-sensitive sheet material package from which the sheet material may easily be dispensed.

Prior art sheet material packages, as disclosed by US. Pat. Nos. 1,794,426 and l,848,859, have long utilized containers having a narrow slit through which the sheet material contained therein may be dispensed. When using such a container it is necessary to secure one end of the sheet material to the exterior of the container during assembly of the package so that it will be accessible when it is desired to dispense the sheet material. Thus. in US. Pat. No. 1.848.859 there is disclosed the use of a strip of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape which adheres to the exterior of the container and one end of the sheet material extending through the slit which tape may be removed when it is desired to dispense the sheet material.

However, such a package is disadvantageous in that upon removing the tape the end of the sheet material to which it adheres may be torn along the slit and removed with the tape. The end of the sheet material will then be inaccessibleand the package must be disassembled causing great inconvenience or it may be discarded. Moreover, this problem is particularly acute when the sheet material is light-sensitive since the tape must be opaque and must cover the slit and removal of the tape must be accomplished in a darkened space so that if the end of the sheet material is inaccessible the unused package of sheet material will almost certainly be discarded.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive sheet material package utilizing a container with a narrow slit through which the sheet material is dispensed wherein one end of the sheet material is accessible when it is desired to dispense the sheet material. It is a further object to provide a package oflight-sensitive sheet material.

The novel features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after reading the following description which refers to the accompanying drawing wherein:

'FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a package made in accordance with the present invention and partially in section;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional viewtaken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial longitudinal sectional view .taken along line 3-3 ofFlG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

A package constructed in accordance with the present invention and generally designated is illustrated in FIG. 1 and comprises a container 12 having a narrow slit 14 in the outer peripheral wall, a roll of sheet material l6 disposed within the container with the free end extending through the slit, and a removable strip of material secured to the container 12 across the slit 14.

The container 12 of the illustrated embodiment of the present invention consists of a hollow cylindrical tube 22 and a pair of identical end plates 24 and 26. The tube 22 is preferably formed of an opaque material such as a helically wound paper tube. The narrow slit 14 is made inthe tube wall to extend longitudinally of the tube 22, parallel to the tube axis, substantially the entire length thereof, it has a length greater than the length of the roll of sheet material 16, and it has a width greater than the thickness of the sheet material 16.

The end plates 24 and 26 are circular and are preferably formed from sheet metal. The periphery of each end plate 24 or 26 is formed with a rolled edge to form a peripheral ring about each end plate having an inner diameter equal to the inside diameter of the tube and a width equal to the thickness of the tube wall. The rings dispose the inner planar surface of the end plates near the ends of the roll of sheet material and axially inward of the ends ofthe slit 14. The end plates 24 and 26 are affixed to opposite ends of the tube 22 by placing the tube wallends in the hollow of the peripheral rings and forcing the outer wall or seam of the rings toward the inner wall to securely capture the ends of the tube wall. Centrally of each of the plates 24 and 26 a cylindrical hub 27 is embossed with a diameter substantially less than the: diameter of the tube 22. These embossed hubs 27 are formed to extend inwardly toward the center of the tube 22 when the end plates 24 and 26 are affixed to the ends of the tube 22.

The sheet material 16 is convolutely wound about a hollow core 28 and has a width less than the length of the slit 14. It is preferably a light-sensitive sheet material such as the material disclosed in US. application Ser. No. 693,714, (assigned to the assignee of this application) which material is a type of radiationsensitive thermally developable coating comprising a combination of photosensitive silver halide and light'stable organic silver salt in conjunction with a reducing agent, which coating is disposed on a suitable backing. The core 28 has an inside diameter generally equal to the diameter of the embossed hubs 27 so that it is internally supported at its ends on the embossed hubs. The sheet material 16 has its outer or free end extending out of the container 12 through the narrow slit 14 along the exterior of the tube 22a short distance and then it is folded back upon itself and extends back across the slit as illustrated for the folded end portion 30 in FIG. 3. The folded end portion 30 is, thus, the part of the material separated from the remaining portion of the roll by the fold line.

The strip of material 20 secured to the container and the end of the sheet material 16 is preferably a strip of aluminum foil having a'pressure-sensitive adhesive coating on one face so that light and moisture will be prevented from entering the container. This foil tape 20 has a width greater than that of the folded end portion 30 and sufficient to extend across the folded end portion 30 of the sheet material 16 across the slit l4 and has a length greater than the length of the tube 22. One end of the tape 20 is aligned with one end of the tube 22 with its width extending equally to either side ofthe folded end portion 30 of the sheet material andl its other end extending beyond the opposite end of the tube 22. The tape thus adheres to the container around the entire periphery of the folded end portion 30 of the sheet material 16 and of the slit 14. The end of the foil tape 20 extending beyond the end of the tube 22 may be folded back upon itself to adhere its exposed pressuresensitive adhesive surface to itself or an instruction tag may be adhered thereto to provide a tab which may easily be grasped for removal of the tape 20 when it is desired to dispense the sheet material 16.

In use the package is assembled as described above and is shipped to the consumer. When it is desired to dispense the sheet material, the consumer grasps the tab of the foil tape 20 extending beyond the endof the tube 22 and pulls it away from the container l2across the length of the tube 22.Since the tape 20 adheres to the folded end portion 30 of the sheet material 16, the sheet material is tornalong the fold as the tape is removed. When the tape 20 has been removed the portion of the sheet material extending through the slit 14 along the container 12 up to the fold remains accessible on the exterior of the container. Thus, even if the sheet materialis lightsensitive, or otherwise necessitates the removal of the tape 20 in a darkened space, the end of the sheet material will have a length to be easily accessible and will not fall back into the container 12.

We claim:

1. A package comprising:

a container having a narrow slit formed in the exterior surface thereof; 7

a roll of sheet material within said container, said sheet material being adapted to pass through said slit and having one end thereof extending through said slit along said exterior surface of said container and then folded back upon itself and across said slit to contact said exterior surface of said container on both sides of said slit; and

a strip of material covering and extending beyond the periphery of said folded end portion of said sheet material and secured to said foldedend portion and said container around the periphery of said folded end portion and said slit.

2. A light-sensitive material package comprising:

an opaque closed container having a slit in the exterior surface thereof;

a roll of light-sensitive sheet material within said container. said sheet material being adapted to pass through said slit and having one end thereof extending through said slit along said exterior surface of said container and then folded back upon itself across said slit to contact said exterior surface of said container on both sides of said slit; and

a strip of opaque material covering and extending beyond the periphery of said folded end portion of said sheet material and secured to said folded end portion and said container around the periphery of said folded end portion and said slit.

3. A package according to claim 2 wherein said container is a cylindrical tube with closed ends and a longitudinal axially extending slit.

4. A package according to claim 3 including means supporting said roll of sheet material within said container for free rotation about its axis.

5. A light-sensitive material package comprising:

a cylindrical opaque tube having a narrow longitudinal slit formed in the exterior surface thereof;

a pair of opaque circular end plates affixed to opposite ends of said tube, each end plate having a centrally embossed cylindrical projection, a planar circular plate portion and a peripheral attaching ring receiving an end of said tube, the circular plate portion being disposed in a plane axially inward of the associated end of said slit;

a length of light-sensitive sheet material wound on a hollow cylindrical core which is supported at its ends on said end plate projections within said container said sheet material being adapted to pass through said slit and having the free end thereof extending through said slit along said cxterior surface of said container and then folded back upon itself across said slit to contact said exterior surface of said container on both sides of said slit; and

a strip of opaque material covering and extending beyond the periphery of said folded back portion of said sheet material and adhered to said folded portion and said container around the periphery of said folded portion and said slit. 

